A Netherton man with three domestic abuse convictions has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for a campaign of violence and control against three women, which included kicking and stamping on a pregnant girlfriend's stomach.
Adam Gelhardt, 27, of Downside Close in Netherton, admitted two counts of controlling and coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breaching a suspended sentence order. He appeared via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a navy blue Reprimo jumper.
Violence against three partners
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday afternoon that Gelhardt entered a relationship with the first victim, whom the ECHO has chosen not to name, in April 2023. The relationship initially involved him "showering her with affection", although her mother later described this as "love bombing".
Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, told the court: "Such was the intensity of their relationship, just a few months in, the parties agreed to try for a baby. Around that time, the defendant's attitude changed. Not least due to excessive alcohol intake and cocaine abuse, the defendant became paranoid and became convinced that she was cheating on him. The relationship became toxic."
Gelhardt verbally abused his partner while "becoming increasingly volatile and unpredictable", with Ms Baqri adding: "He was a Jekyll and Hyde character, one moment displaying kindness and affection and the next moment flying into a rage. The defendant was the person who was unfaithful throughout her pregnancy."
Their child was born in June 2024. Gelhardt showed affection to mother and baby initially, but that lasted only a couple of months. He blamed his violent attitude on poor mental health and dealt with it through alcohol and drug binges. He spent the little money they had on gambling.
When the baby was about five months old, Gelhardt had been out all night partying. His partner told him he could not see the baby, and he reacted by sending abusive messages and threatening to kill her. In one message he called her a "filthy, dirty c***" before adding "I'm gonna kill you, I promise you now". He also told her in another text: "I swear to f***ing God yeno, if I find out you're up to something, I'll rip your head off. I couldn't give two f***s about your kid."
In February 2025, while she was "very unwell" in hospital, Gelhardt called her and said he was "either going to kill her father or himself", claiming to be armed with a knife. This complainant was hospitalised a total of 11 times during the relationship because of a stress-related illness that had never previously required inpatient care.
Reading a statement to the court in person, his now ex-girlfriend said: "When I first met him, I had my whole future ahead of me. I had plans, confidence and a strong sense of who I was. I felt like my life was finally coming together. Now I'm left trying to piece together parts of myself that no longer fit together. The abuse I experienced wasn't physical, but it's left scars just the same."
She added: "The child we shared together didn't deserve to have his mother struggling with the emotional damage his father's behaviour caused. What should have been the beginning of a joyful experience of motherhood was instead filled with fear, confusion and self doubt."
She concluded: "I'm rebuilding myself piece by piece and I'm determined to heal. I know I'm not the person I was before, but I hope, with time, I can find my confidence, happiness and independence again. I deserve that chance, and so does my child."
Milkshake poured over second victim
Gelhardt began a relationship with a second woman in February this year. He was initially "extremely charismatic and charming", moving in with her about three weeks after they met. He then began to "display traits of paranoia" over suspicions that she remained in contact with her ex-boyfriend.
On one occasion he wrestled her to the ground while trying to take her mobile phone, placed his hand inside her mouth in a "fish hook" motion, and "smashed it to pieces". The following day, he poured a milkshake over her head while she sat in bed. Ms Baqri said: "As she got out of bed to clean herself up, some of the liquid splattered onto his clothing. He reacted by flinging her onto the couch and kicking her in the face."
When challenged, Gelhardt stated he "couldnt give a f***". He ordered her to sleep on the floor in the living room after leaving her with a "very swollen fat lip".
After police spoke to the complainant following an anonymous call, Gelhardt told her to book them into a hotel while "clearly anxious about police wanting to talk to him". Having "blamed her for the situation", she paid for their week-long stay. During this time he repeatedly grabbed her by her hair and dragged her back into their room when she tried to leave. He picked up socks and tried to force them into her mouth while "saying he would give her something to cry about".
He held a duvet over her face, leaving her struggling to breathe, before spitting into her face and asking "what the f*** are you crying for?" and telling her "it was her who had the problem". He feigned hugging her before biting her lower lip, after which she was able to escape in the early hours when he fell asleep.
After the victim later found out she was pregnant with his child, Gelhardt "initially expressed happiness". Ms Baqri said: "That lasted for just one day, after which he expressed doubt as to who the father was and that he wanted her and her unborn child to die a slow death." He then switched and sent affectionate messages, and told her he had a new partner of three days who "was a 10/10, had money" and that he was "onto a good thing".
Following another argument, with the complainant seven weeks pregnant, Gelhardt pushed and grabbed her before pulling her by her hair. In the early hours of July 12, he demanded she visit an all night garage to buy him a vape. She ran away, but Ms Baqri said: "He caught up with her. He forced her to place her telephone on the ground, and he smashed that. He then dragged her by her hair with such force that she fell onto the concrete pavement. While on the ground, he dragged her. She repeatedly screamed out for someone to help her. He reacted by placing his hand over her mouth. He then stood over her and kicked and stamped on her stomach. He then kicked her to the head and face."
She recalls blood running down her face, and she believed she was going to die. The defendant fled the scene and shouted at cars for someone to help him, not her.
The severely bruised victim fled to the garage for help before being taken to a nearby police station. From the witness box, she said in her own statement: "Perhaps the most painful consequence is what happened during my pregnancy. Pregnancy should have been one of the happiest and most exciting experiences of my life. I should have been imagining my baby's future. Instead, my pregnancy became surrounded by abuse, fear and instability."
She added: "At 18 weeks pregnant, I underwent a surgical abortion. I had to confront the reality that, if I continued the pregnancy in those circumstances, it would potentially not only be my life affected by his behaviour. I couldn't bear the thought of my child growing up surrounded by the same fear and instability."
She concluded: "I'm not speaking because I want revenge or because I want to destroy someone else's life. I'm speaking because I can no longer carry what happened to me in silence. Knowing there's a history of other women experiencing similar treatment has been extremely difficult to process. I cannot change what happened to me, but I hope another woman never finds herself in the position I did."
Previous conviction and sentencing
Gelhardt's actions put him in breach of an 18-month imprisonment suspended for two years, imposed in October 2025 for assault by beating, making threats with a bladed article in a public place and criminal damage against a third former partner. This was also said to have involved dragging the victim around by her hair.
Chris MacMaster, defending, said: "Mr Gelhardt is still a relatively young man. He has turned 27 while he has been in custody and was 26, and indeed younger than that, when he was involved in these relationships. It appears that there are complicated mental health issues, and the court will have seen, in particular, that there are clearly some significant and damaging incidents in Mr Gelhardt's young life that I do submit quite probably underpin some of his behaviour, which is quite plainly unacceptable."
He added that Gelhardt had taken up courses in prison to assist with his mental health, had been seeing a psychiatrist regularly, and had accepted his behaviour was "appalling".
Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: "I have to pass sentence upon you today for three sets of offences. Together, they show a course of conduct by you over a period of about three years to three different women who, unfortunately for them, were in intimate relationships with you. Each of them, it seems, began in a good way, but your conduct to each of them very quickly descended into drug fuelled, alcohol fuelled violence, aggression and terrorising them."
He added: "In respect of [the second victim], you used your foot as a weapon and kicked her when she was some weeks pregnant. You pulled each of them and ragged them around as if you they were yours to do with as you wished. They were not. They were individual human beings, entitled to be treated with respect and dignity, and not to be treated with careless malice."
Judge Medland said of the first victim: "The messages that you sent to [the first victim] are a truly appalling and disturbing catalogue of threats, anger and wickedness. You made her life a daily living hell. I have listened with great care to her elegantly and eloquently expressed victim personal statement."
He added in relation to the second victim: "The period of time in which you offended against her was much less, but only because she was able to summon the courage to get away from you. The grossly serious facts are compounded by her vulnerability as a pregnant woman, to whom you took your boot."
During the hearing, Gelhardt was repeatedly seen checking his watch and chatting to prison staff, fixing his hair, playing with a piece of string, sitting with his head on the desk, and at one stage leaving the video link booth to go to the toilet. He was also handed restraining orders banning him from contacting his victims, who sat side by side in tears in the public gallery, for 15 years.
